STATES OF JERSEY
OFFICIAL REPORT
WEDNESDAY, 18th JULY 2012
VISIT TO JERSEY OF THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL TO COMMEMORATE THE DIAMOND JUBILEE OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
The Bailiff:
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales:
The Bailiff:
ADJOURNMENT
[13:30]
The Roll was called and the Dean led the Assembly in Prayer.
Your Royal Highness. It gives me great pleasure on behalf of the States and the people of Jersey to welcome you most warmly to the Bailiwick today. We are especially delighted that you are accompanied by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall on her first official visit to Jersey. Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which you have come to help us celebrate, has a special resonance in Jersey. It was evident in the official celebrations last month when Islanders came together in their thousands to share in the joy of the occasion, joining citizens throughout the British Isles and the Commonwealth to pay tribute to their Sovereign. It was, of course, a reflection of the affection in which Her Majesty is held by her subjects. Yet it was possible, Sir, to detect a particular warmth in the sentiments of the people of Jersey. The Channel Islands are, of course, amongst the oldest possessions of the Crown, dating back to the Norman Conquest, when the throne of England and the Duchy of Normandy were united in the person of King William I. Jerseymen may well have fought on William’s side at the Battle of Hastings, for the Islands had been part of the Duchy since 933. Certainly, when King Henry II later commissioned a great verse chronicle to record the history of the Dukes of Normandy, it was to the Jersey born poet Wace that he turned for his account. Yet when we trace back our loyalty to the Crown, it is another great Battle, nearly 150 years after the Norman Conquest, which is of particular significance. Few loyal subjects of the Crown today regard the summer of 1204 as a particularly auspicious moment in English history, for it was when the French King Philippe Auguste won the Battle of Rouen resulting in King John’s loss of mainland Normandy. But for Channel Islanders, that year is viewed from a more favourable perspective. That the loss of Normandy did not also embrace these small islands is still a source of surprise to many who consult a map of the Channel Islands for the first time and remark upon their proximity to the French coast. But the loyalty of Islanders to the person they regarded simultaneously as their King and Duke, encouraged by privileges first extended by King John, has ensured that the Islands have remained dependencies of the Crown to this day. The intervening centuries were not without incident but 2 things remained constant over the years: the Islands could count upon the protection of the Crown against any aggressor and, reciprocally, the Crown could rely upon Jersey’s unswerving loyalty in a sometimes troubled world. In February 1649 prominent Islanders gathered to declare loyalty to their new King. Of course, the Prince, who had taken refuge among his people in Jersey, would not be crowned King Charles II until the Restoration, but he was recognised as Sovereign here in a spontaneous gesture of fidelity which preceded by 11 years events across the English Channel. The place where that proclamation was made was in this very Square where we are assembled today. In return for that loyalty, in 1663 the King presented the Bailiff with the Island’s Royal Mace, which sits before you today. It was in this same spot in 1781, that a young army officer, Major Francis Peirson, would lay down his life in the Battle of Jersey. His heroism and that of the men who supported him is recorded in the celebrated painting by John Singleton Copley ‘The Death of Major Peirson’ which has been loaned by The Tate for public display in the Jersey Museum this year as part of our Diamond Jubilee celebrations. On your last visit to Jersey, Sir, you joined us in marking the 800th Anniversary of these links by illuminating the holographic portrait of Her Majesty which the Island commissioned for the occasion. It has since been shared in an exhibition touring Britain as part of the National celebrations, and a copy has been donated to the National Portrait Gallery in London. The portrait is a vivid reminder of the many happy memories which Islanders treasure of the six visits which Her Majesty has made to Jersey since 1949. We express our gratitude to Your Royal Highnesses for visiting us today as we join with people throughout the world in celebrating the Diamond Jubilee, marking 60 years of selfless and dedicated service to her peoples by Her Majesty. We take this opportunity of re-affirming our deep affection, loyalty and respect for our Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II.
Mr Bailiff. I am most grateful to the States and people of Jersey for the wonderful welcome you have shown us today. My wife and I are both delighted to be here formally to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which I know has already given rise to much celebration in the Island. The people of Jersey also played their part in the Diamond Jubilee events in London and, most visibly, at the River Pageant on the Thames. We were very moved, I must say, to see Jersey’s 2 boats there, including the island’s first powered lifeboat, so lovingly-restored by the Maritime Museum. It gives me no pleasure, here in the sunniest part of the British Isles, to be reminded that the weather that day was especially suitable for a lifeboat and, someone said, for toads too. Mr Bailiff, you have spoken most generously of the particular affection in which The Queen is held by the people of Jersey. To your loyal address, Her Majesty has asked me to convey her heartfelt thanks. I can assure you that The Queen will be deeply touched, as my wife and I have been, to learn of the warmth of the welcome you have extended to us here today. In return, I know Her Majesty will wish me to express how this great island, of rich history and strong loyalties, will remain so very dear to her heart, now and in the years to come. [Approbation]
In a moment I shall adjourn this special sitting of the States. I shall then invite Their Royal Highnesses to accompany me and His Excellency to the granite commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee which I shall be asking His Royal Highness to unveil. We shall then move slowly along and there will be an opportunity for their Royal Highnesses to meet some of the people assembled, before we move inside the Royal Court Building in order to unveil the special artwork which commemorates the Pageant of which His Royal Highness has just spoken. Very well, so without further ado, this sitting of the Assembly is adjourned.
[13:48]
